This invention relates to an adhesive system for applying wrap-around labels comprising a pick-up adhesive and an overlap adhesive, to a process for applying wrap-around labels, more particularly to hollow containers, using this adhesive system, to a process for removing the wrap-around labels thus applied from the hollow containers and, finally, to the use of the adhesive system for labeling recyclable or reusable hollow containers.
In the wrap-around labeling of hollow containers of glass, metal and plastics, hotmelt adhesives are at present the only adhesives used for the pick-up stage of the labeling process, i.e. for the initial application of the label to the hollow containers to be labeled. The excellent bond between the wrap-around label and the hollow container is a disadvantage so far as the removal of the wrap-around labels is concerned, for example in cases where the hollow containers are to be reused or recycled.
The reason for this is that the labels are difficult or impossible to remove from the hollow containers without tearing. The remaining parts of the label make subsequent cleaning difficult.
Accordingly, the problem addressed by the present invention was to apply wrap-around labels to such hollow containers as, for example, bottles, cans etc. in such a way that they could be easily and completely removed before cleaning. However, neither the labeling process itself nor the handling of the labeled containers would be adversely affected in any way. More particularly, labeling would be possible in high-performance machines (10 labels applied per second).